Connecticut rolls into final
SAN ANTONIO, March 30 (UPI) -- Sue Bird scored 18 points and Diana Taurasi collected 17 and 10 rebounds Friday night as Connecticut moved within one victory of its second unbeaten season with a 79-56 crushing of Tennessee in the semifinals of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
The Huskies and Lady Vols have combined to win five of the last seven national titles and usually have had to go through each other to win a championship. But Connecticut is seemingly unbeatable, and even the team that derailed its perfect season in 1997 never had a chance.
The Huskies are within one victory of their third national title and an undefeated 39-game season, which would tie a record set by the Lady Vols in 1998. Connecticut (38-0) will face Oklahoma in Sunday night's national championship.
In the opening semifinal, Caton Hill put a halt to Duke's second-half rally with a key three-pointer and the Sooners pulled away over the final minutes to beat the Blue Devils, 86-71.
The national semifinals drew a sellout crowd of 29,000 to the Alamodome, the largest crowd ever to watch women's basketball in the United States.
After Tennessee made the first basket of the game, the Huskies scored 20 of the next 27 points take the lead for good.
Connecticut had a 20-15 edge before reeling off a 14-4 run to pull away.
Oklahoma, playing in the Final Four for the first time, ended Duke's 22-game winning streak with a big first-half run and by keeping its poise in the second period when the Blue Devils cut what had been a 17-point deficit down to two.
The Sooners, led by a career high 26 points from Rosalind Ross, built had a 54-37 advantage with 16 minutes to play only to have the Blue Devils storm back into the contest.
Duke rallied within 64-62 with 7:52 to play on a layup by Michele Matyasovsky, but 11 seconds later Hill hit the three-point shot that turned back the challenge. Baskets by Jamie Talbert, Ross and Hill over the next three minutes boosted Oklahoma's lead to 11 and Duke was unable to mount another charge.
Men's Final Four set for Saturday
ATLANTA, March 30 (UPI) -- The four teams left to contend for the men's championship of college basketball went through their final practice sessions at the Georgia Dome Friday with two big questions looming over the proceedings.
Can Indiana star Tom Coverdale overcome a severely sprained ankle and play in today's semifinals of the NCAA Tournament and is the game between Kansas and Maryland really for the national title?
Indiana, with Coverdale's status very much in doubt, will meet Oklahoma Saturday in the first of the semifinal contests and Kansas will then take on Maryland in a game featuring veteran coaches looking for their first national crown.
"How much do I want to win it? As much as I want to breathe," said Kansas Coach Roy Williams. "I have more desire to win it in my little finger than all the Kansas people in the world have."
"Personally, I would rather keep breathing," retorted Maryland Coach Gary Williams said when told what his counterpart said. "But I know what Roy means. I want to win the national championship badly."
The Kansas-Maryland matchup is the highlight attraction of Saturday's action, but all those involved in that game tried to downplay the suggestion that the winner would automatically become the national champion.
"I don't want to get into that," said Kansas forward Drew Gooden. "Oklahoma and Indiana are good teams. We know Oklahoma is a good team because they beat us in the Big 12 Tournament. And Indiana beat Duke. All four teams have done something to prove they belong here."
The Indiana-Oklahoma game could well revolve around how good a job the Hoosiers' medical staff has done this week with Coverdale.
During the second half of Indiana's victory over Kent State in the regional final, Coverdale suffered a badly sprained ankle. With freshman Donald Perry running the Indiana offense, the Hoosiers struggled with Kent State's press and allowed the Golden Flashes back in the game.
Because of Oklahoma's intense pressure on defense, the pre-game speculation has been that Coverdale must play for the Hoosiers to have a chance.
Coverdale did not practice Friday as a crowd of about 5,000 showed up to watch the four teams go through their final drills.
Blackhawks win third in a row
ST. PAUL, Minn., March 30 (UPI) -- Defenseman Phil Housley and Michael Nylander scored power-play goals during a dominating second period Friday night as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Minnesota Wild, 3-1.
Housley tied the game 6:48 into the second and Nylander gave Chicago the lead for good at 17:31. The Blackhawks finished the period with a 13-1 advantage in shots, with Housley totaling six by himself.
Nylander added two assists and Eric Daze scored his team-leading 35th goal in the third period for the Blackhawks, who increased their lead for fourth place in the Western Conference to three points over Los Angeles.
Chicago is getting hot at the right time, having won three straight games for the first time in nearly three months.
The teams complete a home-and-home series Sunday.
In the only other game on the NHL schedule, Washington defeated New Jersey, 3-1.
Jordan scores 34 point
WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- Michael Jordan continued his steady improvement from a knee injury with 34 points in 26 minutes Friday night and Richard Hamilton added 24 as the Washington Wizards downed the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-98.
Sam Cassell, whistled for traveling with his team trailing by 13, showed his frustration by taking two steps and punting the basketball into the scoreboard that hangs high above midcourt. The ball then ricocheted into the lower seating area.
That caused his ejection from the game and Glenn Robinson joined his teammate in the locker room 2 1/2 minutes later when he argued his way into two quick technicals and an automatic ejection.
Washington (34-38) moved within 1 ½ games of the Indiana Pacers for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot with 10 games remaining.
Other NBA results: Dallas 108, Boston 82; Sacramento 92, Charlotte 87; Miami 92, Atlanta 80; Minnesota 98, New York 77; Orlando 144, Indiana 106; Detroit 110, Golden State 93; Los Angeles Clippers 96, Phoenix 94; Seattle 79, San Antonio 76; Los Angeles Lakers 91, Portland 79.
Singh leads Houston Open
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, March 30 (UPI) -- Vijay Singh of Fiji grabbed a two-shot lead at the Houston Open Friday, holing a bunker shot at the par-3 16th en route to a bogey-free, 7-under-par 65.
Ranked eighth in the world, Singh had seven birdies during the second round at the TPC-Woodlands, including a 50-foot bunker shot at the 16th that gave him a two-shot lead.
Singh closed his day with a birdie to reach 12-under 132 midway through the $4 million event. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland was second at 134, a shot better than El Paso resident J.P. Hayes.
Winless in the United States since the 2000 Masters, Singh missed a cut for just the 11th time in the last seven seasons last week at The Players Championship and is one of the few elite players in the world entered here.
Skipping this Masters tuneup are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia. The first major of the season follows next week's BellSouth Classic.
Neumann stays in front in LPGA major
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., March 30 (UPI) -- Winless since 1988, Liselotte Neumann extended her lead midway through the Kraft Nabisco Championship to two shots Friday, then credited a new fitness regimen for her comeback.
The 35-year-old Swede followed the only sub-70 score of the first round with a 2-under-par 70. She was at 5-under 139 midway through the first major of the LPGA Tour season, two shots better than a trio of big names.
Among them was defending champion Annika Sorenstam, who is seeking her fourth career major title and 15th overall since the start of the 2000 season. She was tied with Rosie Jones and Beth Daniel at 141.
Kris Tschetter was the only other golfer in the 92-player field under par, sitting fifth at 143. Amateur Lorena Ochoa, Leta Lindley and Cristie Kerr were at even-par 144.
An honorary member at Mission Hills Country Club, Neumann had three birdies and a bogey Friday, when gusting winds and difficult pin placements kept scores high.
Regardless of the course, high scores had become all too familiar for Neumann, who had just one top-10 finish in 21 starts last year before turning to a new workout program.
"The end of last year, I was not too happy with myself and my game," said Neumann, who has 12 career titles but just four top-10s the last three seasons. "I think that's why I've done the changes. I think I have come to a point where I've got to change something."
Federer, Agassi to meet in final
MIAMI, March 30 (UPI) -- Rogerer Federer of Switzerland again found a way to upset a seemingly unbeatable opponent at one of the world's top tournaments.
Federer, the 12th seed, recorded six aces and a pair of service breaks Friday night as he stunned top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of the $6.44 million NASDAQ 100 Open.
Federer advanced to Sunday's final, where he will face four-time Miami champion Andre Agassi.
Agassi moved into the championship match when Marcelo Rios of Chile retired with a right knee injury. Agassi dropped the first set, 6-7 (7-9), before prevailing in the second, 6-4.
Hewitt, who finished 2001 atop the ATP rankings, saw his 14-match winning streak come to end. He had seemed unbeatable on American hard courts, winning 21 straight matches and capturing the U.S. Open, San Jose and Indian Wells titles.
Federer accomplished a similarly stunning feat in July, when he defeated seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round at the All-England club.
New Mexico hires McKay
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., March 30 (UPI) -- New Mexico has named Oregon State's Ritchie McKay to replace Fran Fraschilla as its new men's basketball coach.
McKay, who posted two-year record of 22-37 at Oregon State, signed a five-year contract.
The youngest coach in the Pac-10 Conference, McKay, 36, went 10-20 and 12-17 in his two seasons at Oregon State. The Beavers were plagued by injuries this past season and failed to make the eight-team Pac-10 tournament.
Prior to coming to Oregon State, McKay spent two seasons apiece at Portland State and Colorado State. He has an overall coaching record of 83-89.
Chargers re-sign Christie
SAN DIEGO, March 30 (UPI) -- The San Diego Chargers re-signed kicker Steve Christe and defensive end Adrian Dingle to one-year contracts Friday.
Financial terms of both deals were not disclosed. Christie was an unrestricted free agent while Dingle was a restricted free agent.
Christie, 34, replaced Wade Richey as the club's placekicker late last season and converted nine of 11 field goals and all six extra points in five games.
Entering his 13th season, Christie has made 281 of 357 field goals and missed four extra points in 368 attempts for 1,207 points during his career. He also has kicked for Tampa Bay and Buffalo.
